A 22.5% gain by snacks and appetizers drove the advance. But household penetration remains low, leaving plenty of room for additional growth. While inflation stifled growth of some frozen Asian foods earlier this year, continued innovation in response to rising demand for Asian flavors has the category on the rise

New indulgent and better-for-you options make it easy for cash-strapped consumers to choose frozen over takeout. Thanks largely to rampant inflation, frozen pizza sales jumped 7.9% during the 12 weeks ended April 17 to $1.50 billion, reports Chicago-based market research firm IRI (iriworldwide.com). However, unit sales fell 2.9%. The fact

Up 12%, the category is outperforming the frozen department as a whole. New products are all about convenience and protein. While the frozen breakfast category had been reporting unit growth, inflation is starting to take a toll. During the 12 weeks ended April 17, dollar sales increased 12% to $1.16